Australia's mothers and babies

The health of both mothers and babies can have important ongoing implications. In 2021, there were 315,705 babies born to 311,360 mothers in Australia. Explore the characteristics and health of mothers and their babies through interactive data visualisations, and in-depth information and trends on the antenatal period, labour and birth, and outcomes for babies at birth.

This web report also provides information on stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths, including causes, maternal characteristics, timing and investigations.

The data in this report are based on final 2021 data from the National Perinatal Data Collection, the National Maternal Mortality Data Collection, and the National Perinatal Mortality Data Collection.

This year for the first time, Australia's mothers and babies includes a separate article on breastfeeding in Australia, focusing on breastfeeding duration and breastfeeding by state or territory, remoteness area and among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) mothers.

For the third time, an early release of preliminary 2022 NPDC data is also being made available within 12 months of the relevant reporting period (these data tables are available under ‘Data’). Please note that the preliminary 2022 data include data from 5 of 8 jurisdictions, totals in the preliminary 2022 data are not comparable with the final 2021 data used throughout this report. Final 2022 data and a full update of the Australia’s mothers and babies web report will be released in mid-2024.